Railway car vestibule diaphragm



Dec. l2, v1939. E, E WFH-[MORE 2,183,250

RAILWAY CAR VESTIBULE DIAPHRAGM Filed April y25, 1937 2 sheets-sheet 1Dec. 12, 1939.

E. E. wl-n'l-MORE RAILWAY CAR VESTIBULE DIAPHRAGM Filed April 25, 1937 v2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J M E m m Patented Dec'. l2, 1939 PATENT-ferries rRAILwAYGAR VESTIBULE .DIAPHRAGM r EdwarfdE.y Whitmore,Clcago, Ill.,asrsigno'rfto I The, A'dlake Company,

" tion of'Illirnos Chicago, Ill., a corpora' Application April 23, 1937,seal No. v`138,612

f 14 claims. (c1. 19t-1s) The present invention has to do1with railwaycar vestibule di'aphragms of the ltypev in Vwhich the sides of thediaphragm aremade of flexible material and are, arranged inone or moreyac- 5 c'ordon-like pleats. .When adiaphragm of this type is usedbetween adjoining railwayv cars,

openings will ordinarily be `formed betweenthe lower edges of thevpleated sides of the dia` phragm yand thewends ofthe overlapping 'foot10, plates, which openingsfare'continually changing y their size andshape-'with the Weaving andturn- 'ing movements of `the `cars. Theseopenings sometimes become'quite large, particularly when the cars aretraveling arounda curve, and it is Ientirely possible for a personinpassing from one car to the ,other-to fall and allow a leg, foot orhand to slipv momentarily into y one' of these scissors-like openings,with likelihood of serious consequences. 4

The principalobject` of this invention is to provide a foot plateenclosure boot `on the inner surface of each side of a diaphragm, whichboot will eiectively shield the oor opening'v at that side of thepassageway without interfering in any way with the movements of eitherthe foot plates vor the diaphragm.v

While the foregoing statement is indicative in a general way ofthenature of the invention, other more specic objects and advantages willbe'apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of theconstruction, arrangement and operation of thenew enclosure boot.

Two different embodiments of the invention are presented herein for thepurpose of exem-v pliication-one for a single. pleat diaphragm andl theother fora double pleat diaphragm-but it j will of course be appreciatedthat the invention is susceptible of embodiment inl other struc--turally modiedforms coming equally within the scope of the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings:

n Fig. l is an end view of a single pleat diaphragm, with the innerlsurfaces of the sides thereof equipped with the boots which form thesubject matter o f this invention.;

Fig. 2 isy a side View of the diaphragm;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the lower end of one' ofthe sides of the diaphragm, taken on the line 3 3 'of Fig. 2, showingboth the regular foot and the extra foot or boot;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal rsection through one side of thediaphragm, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l, showing that side ofthediaphragm expanded; i y

Fig. 5 is a similar enlargedsection, `showing the same'side of thediaphragm contracted; and

Figs. 6, 7, Sand 9 are views, corresponding f5' respectively to Figs.-l, 2, 4 and 5, showing the invention incorporated ina double pleatdiaphragm. `l l The diaphragm shown in Figs. l tov 5 inclusiveais madeof'fany :suitable flexible material, 15(7)'r such as heavy 'beltingcanvas. One end ofthe diaphragm is attached to one end yIIJ of the car,about ythe archedr passageway therein, and the other .end is attachedIto -a Vface plate I I. The top.I2 of the' diaphragm/andi the'sides I3there- 15 of are arranged'in a singlepleat whichpermits contraction fandexpansion of f the diaphragm upon vmovement of; the Vfaceplate :towardand away from the end ofthe car. The lower ends of the sides I3 of thediaphragm terminate in 20 feet I4,vpreferably made of a softer material,such as chrome leather, which may be trimmed off flush with the footplates I5 and IS which are secured respectively to the-end I8 of the carand the face plate II.

Secured to the inner'surfaces ofthe lower ends of the sides ,I3v of thediaphragm, above the regular feet ILareA closure boots Il whichterminate at their lower edges in supplemental feet I8. ranged at aninclination tothe sides I3 of the diaphragmand merge upwardly into thelatter, with the feet I8 spaced inwardly from the feet I4 at rall timesregardless oi whether the diaphragm is contracted or expanded. The eX-panded position is lshown in Fig. 4, while the contracted position isshown in Fig. 5. It will be .observed in these views that the boots I1,with their feet I8, are bowed or pleated at all times in conformity withthe sides i3 of the dia- 40 phragm, with the center bendsy in the feetI8 projecting far enough into the passageway to overlie the openings I9which develop between the edges of the foot plates.` The upper edges ofthe boots I'lvare stitched or otherwise se- 45 curely attached,preferably along horizontal lines 2D, to the inner surfaces of the sidesI3 of the diaphragm. The lower edges of the feet I8,

like the feet I4, are preferably cut off flush with the foot plates.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusivea diaphragm` is shownwhich has two pleats 2| and 22. kThe foot plate closure boots 23 usedwiththis type of diaphragm-are different in that.l they are mounted inthe crevices 55 The 4boots II, with their feet I8, are ar- 30` tanceabove the bottom of the diaphragm, at 30,

which increases the ilexibility of the sides of the diaphragm near thebottom thereof and facilitates the application and expansion andcontraction of the gusset-like boots 24'.

I claim:

i. A diaphragm for application to a railway car vestibule having apassageway with overlapping foot plates and openings at the side edgesof the plates, which diaphragm is of the type in which the sides aremade of flexible material and are vertically pleated in one ormoreffnlds to permit of an accordion-like expansion and contraction,said diaphragm. being provided on the inner surfaces of the lower endsof the sides with supplemental feet, which. feet are set inwardly fromthe regular feet on the lower edges of the sides, whereby to provideclosures for said foot plate openings.

2. A diaphragm for application to a railway car vestibule having apassageway with overlapping foot plates and openings at the side edgesof the plates, which diaphragm is of the type in which the sides aremade of exible material and are vertically pleated in one, or more foldsto permit of an accordion-like expansion and contraction, said diaphragmbeing provided on the inner surfaces of the lower ends of the sides withsupplemental feet which are set inwardly from the regular feet on thelower ends of the sides and merge upwardly into the sides above suchregular feet, whereby to provide closures for said foot plate openings.

3. A diaphragm for application to a railway car vestibule having apassageway with overlapping foot plates and openings at the side edgesoi the plates, which diaphragm is of the type in which the sides' aremade of iiexible material v,and are vertically pleated in one or morefolds to permit of an accordion-like expansion and contraction, saiddiaphragm being of the pleated type, provided on the inner surfaces ofthe lower ends of the sides with supplemental gusset-like feet which areset inwardly from the regular feet on the lower ends of the sides andmerge upwardly into the sides above such regular feet, with thesupplemental feet pleated in conformity with the sides, whereby toprovide closures for said foot plate openings.

4f. A diaphragm for application to a railway car vestibule having apassageway with overlapping foot plates and openings at the side edgesof the plates, which diaphragm is of the type in which the sides aremade of flexible material and are vertically pleated in one or morefolds to permit of an accordion-like expansion and contraction, said`diaphragm being provided with inwardly protruding boots of flexiblematerial attached to the `lower portions of the pleated sides of thediaphragm, with the center portions of the' boots bowed inwardly awayfrom the opposedA portions of the sides of the diaphragm in both theexpanded and contracted positions of thel sides, whereby to fully coversaid foot plate openings'.

EDWARD E. WHITMORE

